Including the Regional Road bridge episode with his blunders.

You will be interested to know that I asked the board secretary to minute that “Kenneth Zammit Tabona strongly objects to the contents of the contract being negotiated not being shown to him as a board member and declares that should this contract be finalised and signed without his having seen it, he will resign and resign publicly”. This was no idle threat.

I received an email from the chairman three weeks later saying that we would be meeting Mro Laus at the next meeting as the contract had been signed and I immediately informed the press.

You may look up the rest of the story on the internet. None of the other board members had the gumption or the principle to do what I did – however I was not going to be anyone’s rubber-stamp.

You will be interested to know that Mr Tabone Vassallo eventually resigned too, for the reasons you mentioned. The rest of the board stayed on………and on……….and on.

[Daphne – Good for you, Kenneth. Mario Tabone Vassallo – isn’t he that person who insists on always speaking in manufactured Maltese, whatever the situation, circumstance or company?]

Dear Chad, your experience is a positive one. Why bite the hand which feeds you? I bit the hand which did not feed me. When I was studying in 1978 at the Polytechnic in Msida, all I got was uncertainty and a measly 50 cents per week student allowance, which didn’t even cover the ten x 7 cents bus tickets. I know a lot of people my age who couldn’t afford to carry on with their studies because of the numerus clausus at university and no financial backing from the state.

In 1996-98 – that’s 13 years ago – students didn’t even dream of getting this kind of manna. All they got was a bank loan to buy their books, which they had to pay when they started working.

I hate to say this, but most of the “doctors” in the MLP don’t like it when the workers’ children open their minds through education. The PN administrations always were the ones which built new schools and came up with schemes to further educate people…all the people, young and old.

The MLP made hotch-potch reforms which scared students away from higher education let alone foreign universities. They even sold a school to Libya which the PN administration had built in the 1960s.

My family are still traditionally Labour supporters. When elections are near I avoid bringing up political arguments at home, because unity in your family comes first. You have the duty to vote according to what your mind tells you, even though some stupid PN diehard thinks you are a Labour supporter.

I’m telling you this from my experience, and I can understand what an awkward position you are in, because even your family helped you in your education, after all. You would like to see them happy because ‘their’ government will be in power, but I tell you’d prefer listening to the Super One news for a whole five years every day under a less bad PN administration than live 22 months under a party which is not in peace with itself.

May you fulfill your ambitions. Remember that you are an asset to your country. That’s why this government is investing in you. Good luck.

You state: “The terms of the award stipulate that you cannot hold down a full-time job.”

I do not know about STEPS nor about Mugliett. For the MGSS, however, you are allowed to hold a full time job whilst doing the Phd on a part time basis.

Actually, I was twice as happy as I should have been, when I was told that I had obtained the award, due to a conversation I had with a colleague some months back.

This co-worker and I were having a conversation on the possibility of obtaining funding for a master’s degree in some way or another. Anyway this guy happens to be a die-hard Nationalist and during our conversation he expressed his cynicism on whether such funds could be recouped from the government. He seemed adamant that only those with good connections would be able to get their hands on the cash.

Apart from the fact that I wouldn’t have expected such cynicism against his party on such a sensitive issue, for the life of me I couldn’t believe that capable people could be left out of such a scheme just because they weren’t close to the circles that count.

I mean for government contracts I would expect some sense of favouritism where the government-party axis protects its own but for pete’s sake, we were talking about the future of young people here, young men and women who would be contributing to our economy in the near future.

Anyway, I guess I’m the living proof that at least favouritism doesn’t exist in educational awards. I am neither well connected nor am I remotely a party acolyte. I got the award on my own merit. I too obtained a first class bachelor’s degree and had a damn good dissertation proposal for the master’s degree I will be doing. I read through the course brochure and handbook well into the night on the eve of the interview and spoke to a couple of past alumni on Facebook to prepare any possible questions the board could ask re the university. I was well and truly prepared for anything and passed with flying colours.

The thing is that the notion of favouritism has been so well ingrained in our subconscious that some people cannot even contemplate ‘fair play’. To them it’s just who you know and not what you know. I am glad that in the end of the I am no dreamer and that I was proven right.

[Daphne – “Apart from the fact that I wouldn’t have expected such cynicism against his party on such a sensitive issue, for the life of me I couldn’t believe that capable people could be left out of such a scheme just because they weren’t close to the circles that count.” That’s the way it was when I was 18, Chad. First, capable people were cut out of educational schemes, and then lots of educational schemes were cut out altogether. It’s the reason I’ve been working since I was 17.]

My, how times change, Chad! When I was your age, the Labour PM had deemed Uni a luxury and practically closed it down.

Oh well, as long as you’re happy with that and vote labour. . . who knows – maybe history could repeat itself, only this time, with YOUR children on the receiving end. Your choice!

Why shouldn’t people in their thirties and forties apply for a scholarship and pursue postgraduate studies? What is wrong in fulfilling an ambition which for family, financial or other reasons you were not able to fulfil when you were younger?

From my experience, postgraduate studies makes people more effective in their work. I would recommend it to anyone who has the motivation and the energy, irrespective of age.

As for Jesmond Mugliett, if doing a masters (or whatever it is he is doing) helps him to adjust better after so many years in public office, then why not?

[Daphne – Will you please read my piece again? Nowhere did I say that middle-aged people should not try for an award. On the contrary, I think that whatever will get people my age out of the rut into which lots of them have dug themselves, which is the root cause of their anger, boredom and frustration, can only be a good thing. I said that MPs shouldn’t apply, and this out of a sense of what is appropriate and not because they are barred, because it’s unbecoming. For a start, they have a salary coming in and will not be taking a pay-cut by studying. If anything, it is electors who will be shortchanged by MPs not doing what they were elected to do, and doing something else instead. The terms of the award stipulate that you cannot hold down a full-time job. I imagine Mugliett tried his hand at a bit of legalistic argument: Maltese MPs are not full-timers but part-timers. Ah, but they receive a full-time salary, and that’s the point – they are among Malta’s best-paid individuals. Incidentally, Mugliett is still in public office, and shows no signs of leaving. His problems with adjustment generally are such that no scholarship award will solve them.]

I’m an avid reader of your blog but this is the first time I’m writing. You see I was one of those 200 20-year-olds that were present at MCC last Friday.

I am a Labourite born and bred and have never voted PN and I don’t think I ever will either. But I am truly grateful to Dr. Gonzi and Mrs. Cristina for having given me a helping hand in my studies through such a generous financial contribution.

It was the first time I met Dr. Gonzi and I was touched by his personal warmth and the interest he took when presenting the award. I could see in his eyes that he was genuinely happy for each and every one of us. I was also surprised when he mingled with all of us after in the foyer asking us what we would study and which university we were to attend.

The present administration may have all the faults in the world but I can’t think of any country in the world where the PM personally presents you with such a wonderful ‘gift’. I can assure him that it was money well invested…

Oh and by the way I’m sure you noticed that your husband missed going up for the award the first time (he got held up in the queue or something) and had to be recalled at the end. Some people actually thought your son was getting two awards instead of one (u beda iz-zekzik kontra l-klikka tas-soltu…).

[Daphne – That’s why young people warm to him and voted for him in their vast majority last year. The prime minister appeals far more to those who are just starting out in life than to jaded, bored and boring people my age, who are just looking for a reason to hate the world. (And I thought it was teenagers who were meant to hate the world.) Congratulations on your decision to carry on studying, and keep your positive outlook, because people with a positive outlook get much, much further in life – both their personal life and their working life.

Have a good time, Chad, and thank you very much for writing in. I appreciate it. Like the prime minister, I much prefer young people. You’re all so much more interesting than the dwejjaq crowd, and so much more personable, too, than we were at your age.]